1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the automated processing of retail sales promotional discounts and, in particular, to the automated tracking, charging and analysis of retail sales promotions offered by a plurality of sponsors.
2. Discussion of the Background
Discount coupons have been a successful marketing promotion technique to improve the sale of items. The majority of coupons given to consumers today give a discount to customers who purchase a specified single item. The redemption procedure at the point of sale for such coupons is relatively straightforward because the retailer has to only identify if that one item has been purchased prior to giving the customer the specified discount. The processing of these coupons by the retailer and sponsor of the promotion, who is usually the manufacturer of the item, is also fairly straightforward since the retailer is only required to return the coupon to the sponsor or the sponsor's agent to receive the cost of the discount that the retailer provided to the customer.
Retail sales promotions are also offered which provide a discount if a customer purchases a specified combination of items. These multiple item promotions give the customer a choice of items which he or she may purchase and receive a benefit. Providing multiple item promotions involving items promoted by different entities has been limited by the mechanism followed by retailers to redeem coupons at the point of sale. Retailer procedures for redeeming coupons are focused upon promotions which only require the purchase of a single item and therefore only one sponsor of the promotion may be charged for the discount provided to the customer. Coupons or other promotions which require a customer to purchase several items from several manufactures or sponsors have not been practical because apportionment of the costs cannot effectively be made given the procedures currently used by retailers to redeem coupons. The cost of existing multiple item promotions are generally divided equally among all of the sponsors participating in the promotion without regard to the number of items sold by each sponsor as a result of the promotion.